(eng) Patricia A. McKillip by Alphabet of Thorn

Author:Alphabet of Thorn [Thorn, Alphabet of]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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FOURTEEN

Vevay took the young man back to the Floating School. She was too furious to speak again in those brief moments; Bourne of Seale looked too stunned. Once he tried. Vevay saw a face flicker through his thoughts; his eyes grew wide and full of words. But he said nothing until they were in the school, facing Felan in one of the rich, cluttered, comfortable rooms that students rarely saw, full of old books and shy animals. By then Bourne seemed resigned as he gazed helplessly back at Felan.

He said, “That day we spent in the wood.”

Felan’s shining pate lowered an inch; his own eyes were very calm. “Of course we watched to see what shapes the wood took for you. It shapes your heart; you can hide nothing from it.”

“Then why—” Bourne began abruptly, then as abruptly closed his mouth again.

Vevay, who saw the lovely face again in his thoughts, answered grimly, “You have no privacy now. If you did not see that young woman in the wood perhaps it was simply because in that matter your feelings are entirely unambiguous.”

“Who is she?” Felan asked.

“Just a transcriptor,” Bourne told him. “One of the orphans the librarians raised and trained. She doesn’t pay attention to the world beyond the library. Her head is full of ancient languages. She knew nothing about—about —” He shook his head, his mouth tight; his eyes slid away from Felan’s. “Whatever,” he finished, “my uncle might be doing.”

“Do you know?” Vevay demanded.

“I can guess,” Bourne answered after a moment. “From comments my uncle made, and from what he wanted me to learn.”

“And you never questioned those things.”

A dull flush seeped into his face. “It’s a family tradition, rebelling against rulers. My great-grandfather was beheaded for it.”

“You don’t take this seriously!” Vevay exclaimed, exasperated. “You could lose your own head.”

“No.” He met her eyes, trying hard, she saw, to explain himself to himself as well as to her. “I do take this seriously. It was my uncle Ermin that I never took very seriously. I thought he was mostly talk. He wanted me to come here and study to gain powers to help Seale rebel against Raine. I couldn’t imagine actually learning anything that might be useful to anyone. But I found I liked what I was studying. So if he wanted me here, I didn’t mind learning.”

“And you would have taken all that you learned back to the Second Crown and used your powers to fight against the queen.

“My powers,” he repeated incredulously. His eyes moved from her to Felan. “You saw the extent of my powers in the wood. I summoned fire and managed to char some bark on a tree.

“You lifted the Floating School,” Felan said.

The blood drained out of Bourne’s face again. He stared at Felan; Vevay saw his eyes grow cloudy a moment, almost tranquil, as he remembered his own spell. “I tried,” he whispered. “It was just something to do. I thought — I didn’t think — It seemed only a dream.

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